Vigilante Squared
by TheDarkDoctorWatson
Summary: Oliver always prized himself on being a hunter of those who threatened his city, but when he finds that he's being hunted himself by a new player, he'll have to swallow his pride and call in an expert that will lead to all new alliances within Starling as well as shifting Oliver's entire view of the world. (Middle of Arrow S2 [sets up AU], Spidey is amalgam of MCU & PS4)
1. Chapter 1 - Oliver

**Chapter One: Oliver**

* * *

 _My name is Oliver Queen. After five years on a hellish island, I have come home with only one goal: to save my city. But to do so, I can't be the killer I once was. To honor my friend's memory, I must become someone else. I must become_ something _else._

* * *

Oliver Queen, under the guise of the Arrow - Starling City's vigilante/hero, stealthily dashed over rooftops as he tried to chase down a potential disaster in progress speeding through late night traffic.

" _I just want to be clear,_ " the voice of Felicity Smoak emanated from within Oliver's earpiece communicator, " _It's not that I mind being up most nights to sunrise, but at least one night a week I do actually need more than two hours of sleep._ "

"Take it up with Diggle in the morning," Oliver replied as he leaped across an alleyway, "He can teach you his technique from the army for getting the most out of minimal sleep."

" _And what's your technique?_ " Felicity asked as keyboard keys clicking could be heard over the comm-line.

"I lived on an island." Oliver answered flatly as he quickly scaled a utility ladder, "I'm nothing if not adaptable."

" _While I would_ love _to finish this conversation,_ " Felicity started with a bit of sarcasm and a new intensity in her voice, " _I feel like I should let you know that he's slowing down like he's meeting someone at the next intersection - another van which happens to have the same RFID signal is pulling up now_."

"That can't be a coincidence." Oliver said as he launched a grappling arrow into the air, swung down and around a light pole and into the intersection where the two vans were meeting.

Oliver then drew an arrow with a timed explosive that would begin countdown when released from the bowstring, and - aiming the arrow at the space between the vans - called out under the guise his electronic growl, "Out of the vans, on the ground, now!"

The drivers of the two vans looked at each other across the intersection, then in unison opened their doors and stepped out onto the pavement. The driver on the right was someone Oliver was unfortunately familiar with - Benjamin Turner, AKA the Bronze Tiger, known ally of the local Chinese Triad. The driver of the van on the left was definitely new in town; the man had a wild look in his almost beetle-like black eyes, a shaggy mane of black hair and a beard to match, a sleeveless jacket modeled to look like a lion's pelt over Russian and American desert combat fatigues as well as body armor. The man also wore a belt, two straps across his chest, some sort of gauntlets on his wrists and anklets all loaded with potential weapons and resources, as well as carrying two rather large pistols at his sides and a rifle on his back.

"I seem to remember putting you away a few weeks ago." Oliver called out in his growl as Turner unsheathed his claw-like blade weapons from within his jacket.

"Prison didn't take," Turner answered, "And one doesn't have to look far in Starling for a friendly policeman."

"Who's your friend?" Oliver asked moving only his eyes to the newcomer who was now unsheathing two rather large knives from sheathes in the back of his belt.

"My name is Kraven." The man answered in a thick Russian accent, "You are prey. This conversation is over."

Before Oliver could respond, the man apparently named Kraven launched one of the knives at Oliver like a javelin with almost frightening accuracy and strength. Oliver barely had time to let his explosive arrow fly, move his bow to knock aside the knife and duck to avoid injury or worse before the explosion flipped the two vans onto their sides. Turner was thrown through the air over the intersection into a storefront window, Kraven used the force from the explosion to launch himself at Oliver with his remaining blade aimed right at Oliver's neck. Oliver brought his bow up to parry the blade and went to move himself out of the way - into a smoke cloud that Kraven had launched from a pellet on his belt. Oliver barely made it out of the cloud in time as he felt Kraven's fist flying over his (Oliver's) head and into the side of a light pole behind him. Before Oliver could make a move of his own, he heard police sirens coming down the road toward the scene as a few officers on foot came out of the nearby alleyways.

"Freeze!" An officer yelled as he came around one of the nearby buildings - past another officer arresting Tuner - with his gun aimed at the men in the intersection, "Weapons on the ground, hands in the air. Both of you!"

As Oliver and Kraven both slowly started to lower their weapons, Kraven swiftly grabbed a small throwing knife from one of the bandoliers on his chest and threw it with frightening speed almost all the way through the officer's neck.

"NO!" Oliver yelled in his growl as the officer grabbed at his neck and collapsed.

"This hunt is not over." Kraven's voice whispered in Oliver's ear as he whipped his head around.

Using another grappling arrow, Oliver launched himself up and out of the intersection and onto a nearby rooftop.

" _Oliver, what's happening?"_ Felicity's voice came in after a patch of static, " _I lost contact with you and cameras in the intersection for a few minutes there._ "

"Officer down, Turner's in custody," Oliver breathed, "And we have a new player in town."

(INSERT SEASON TWO ARROW TITLE CARD CLIP)

"Who was that guy?" Felicity asked as Oliver stepped into the foundry lair underneath Verdant.

"He called himself Kraven." Oliver replied as he set his bow in the glass class that had been custom made to store it, "He called _me_ prey."

"Is this him?" Felicity asked as she turned from the three large computer monitors in front of her to gauge Oliver's response.

"Yeah, who is he?" Oliver asked as he looked at all the files Felicity was now pulling from who-knows-where.

"Well 'Kraven', or 'Kraven the Hunter,'" Felicity started as she typed and clicked through several pages and websites simultaneously on the monitor directly in front of her, "Is a mantel that gets passed down either to family members or those worthy of the name. The current Kraven is Alyosha Kravinoff. He has more than a hundred stints in about the same number of prisons around the globe: Russia, China, Germany, France, Britain, the U.S.; all of these arrests are the murders he's actually connected to, there are hundreds others that he's been tagged in but never fully proved. And you don't wanna know how many his father, uncle and sister have."

"Sounds you're gonna need all hands on deck for this guy." The voice of John Diggle sounded as he stepped into the lair behind Oliver.

"I thought you took the night off, Dig." Oliver said as he turned to the man.

"Couldn't sleep, heard the call for backup come in on the police scanner." He replied.

"Probably a good thing you did." Felicity drew their attention to the monitors, "It doesn't look like the Arrow is Kraven's only prey while he's in Starling."

A news bulletin on the monitor to Felicity's right showed eye-witness footage of a businessman being covered with a white tarp, but not before the camera could see a rather wicked looking knife protruding from the man's chest and what looked like some kind of cable wrapped around the man's wrists and ankles.

"Hogtied and everything." Diggle sighed in disbelief.

"Can you pull up anything more on Kravinoff or the family name?" Oliver asked.

"I can, but you're needed at work." Felicity replied as a notification popped up on the monitor to her left reading a text from Isabel Rochev - co-CEO of Queen Consolidated with Oliver - asking where he was.

"Dammit." Oliver said under his breath as he started taking of his gloves and grabbing his street clothes from earlier in the evening.

"What does she want at this hour?" Dig asked as he stepped to the monitor for a closer look.

"We are going over the latest stock numbers," Oliver replied flatly, "These figures take into consideration my mother's choice to run for mayor."

"Still not talking to her?" Felicity asked as she turned around in her chair.

"I can barely be in the same room with her, let alone holding a full conversation." Oliver answered curtly.

"You know, Oliver, I'm not one to defend your mother by any means," Dig said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the table, "But she _is_ the only one you got."

Oliver stood in place took a deep breath, then looked Dig in the eye before replying, "That's what makes what she did even worse."

As Oliver walked out, his mind flashed back to the horrors of the island.

* * *

Shado was dead. Oliver couldn't tear his eyes away from her body as Sara sobbed behind him and Ivo still stood over them with a loaded gun.

"You have no one but yourself to blame for this, Oliver." Ivo gloated, "You made this choice."

Before Oliver could respond, what almost sounded like a battle cry was roared from the trees behind Ivo and his men - then Slade, with tears of blood running down his face, leaped over the hill and took out one of Ivo's men in one punch. The other men started firing on him, but Slade kept moving _through_ them and their bullets as if he was made of steel. Ivo tried to get away, but not before Slade's hand shot out and practically broke the doctor's shoulder as he tried to escape.

"You're not going anywhere," Slade slowly said in his Australian accent almost in a growl, "My friends and I have a few words for you."

"Friends, huh?" Ivo asked through a wince of pain, "What kind of friends sacrifice others so that they live?"

Slade's eyes widened in horror before he turned to see Shado's body on the forest floor.

"What. Did. You. DO?!" Slade asked to no one in particular.

"Slade," Oliver croaked as he slowly stood, "Ivo posed it as a choice, he was waving the gun between Shado and Sara, I just didn't want anyone to die so I put myself between them and the gun, but he took the shot anyway."

Slade took a deep breath then turned to Ivo without looking him in the eyes.

"Is this true?" Slade almost whispered.

"No, no, no, he chose Sara." Ivo tried to reason with fear in his voice, "It was his choice, I just pulled the trigger."

"Slade, you called me brother," Oliver started with more confidence in his voice, "I am asking you, as a brother, what makes more sense? That I sacrificed Shado for someone I thought was dead, or that I would sacrifice myself so no one else would die?"

Slade blinked a few times, looked at Oliver then looked Ivo in the eyes.

"I've discovered something you may find interesting, doctor." Slade said as he adjusted his hand on Ivo's left shoulder and pressed Ivo's back against a tree, "The left shoulder is so close to the heart, that if one were to place their hand just so, they could feel the fresh heartbeat in the veins running through the shoulder. They could feel every rise and drop in heart-rate, especially when the person in question is lying."

Ivo's eyes widened as the realization was made. He then moved to put his pistol against Slade's head, but not before Slade grabbed the pistol with his freehand and crushed the barrel in his fist like it was made of putty.

"Your heart-rate and your actions have proven your guilt." Slade said slowly, "Thank you for making this much easier for me."

"No, Slade, wait-" Ivo started before being cut off by Slade pulling his body back and smashing it through the tree trunk repeatedly.

As Slade pulled Ivo's body back out of what was left of the trunk, the tree fell back away from the group and Slade through Ivo's body onto the ground.

"Oliver, Sara," Slade started somberly, "I would like some help burying Shado, but first please help me get whatever we can from Ivo and his men."

"Of course." Oliver replied quietly as Sara nodded while wiping the last of the tear stains off her face.

* * *

Back in the present, Oliver stepped into the main conference room of Queen Consolidated to find Isabel already waiting for him as she worked on a Windows tablet.

"Sorry I'm late." Oliver said in his best apologetic voice.

"Not at all," Isabel started as Oliver took his seat and set up the laptop he had brought with him, "Considering your former reputation as a playboy, and your current reputation of turning up anywhere fashionably late, I took the liberty of moving all of your calendar events and appointments up thirty minutes so that you are either somewhat early or right on time."

"Really?" Oliver asked before checking the time on his watch. "Huh. Thanks, I think."

As they began their work, Oliver got a text from Felicity telling him to turn on the nearest TV to the local news.

"Do you mind if I turn on the news?" Oliver asked, "I just need some background noise to help me focus."

"I suppose that's fine." Isabel answered in her typical voice that was perpetually laced with judgement.

Oliver reached for the remote, pressed the button that brought the large screen down from it's hidden slot in the ceiling, then turned on the local news channel.

"-has dropped another body." The female newscaster was stating, "Police and media are calling him 'Kraven the Hunter.' Police are baffled as to why this man is in Starling, but urge all citizens to remain cautious as he is professionally armed and extremely dangerous. This just in: police have evidence that the vigilante from New York City known as 'Spider-Man' is also in currently Starling City."

"I'm sorry, I gotta go take care of a family thing." Oliver stated drawing Isabel's attention from her work, "I have enough done that, as much as I haven't been here, should be enough that you feel comfortable doing the rest."

Isabel looked over the shared workspace on her screen to verify Oliver's statement before looking to him and merely nodding her consent for him to leave. Oliver grabbed his laptop, shut the lid and began a phone call all in one motion as he walked towards the elevator.

"Felicity," Oliver started as the elevator doors closed, "I need everything you can get and a location on him, _now_."

* * *

On the other side of Starling City, a figure swung off of a webline and used their meta-human abilities to stick to the wall of a skyscraper. The figure wore custom-made thin but practically indestructible soled red shoes, blue jeans, a red hooded zip-up vest with a spider printed on the front and back over a blue sweatshirt, a red beanie, custom-made black goggles with mirror-level reflective lenses, and a large, blue bandana tied around the bottom of the face to complete the mask.

The figure climbed the rest of way to the top of the building, then perched as they looked out on the city and pulled the bandana down for a breath of fresh air. Just as the figure took a breath with a devious smirk, a cell phone clipped to a bandolier hidden under the sweatshirt began to ring. Reaching up to the bluetooth earpiece hidden under the beanie to answer the call, the figure spoke.

"Hey, Aunt May." The man spoke in a voice that hadn't fully dropped yet, "Yeah, I'm fine, just visiting an old friend in Starling for a few days. It's nothing with you, I just needed to get out of New York for a bit. Don't worry about living arrangements, I'm staying with Felicity. Yeah, the one from college. Alright, love you too, I'll let you know when I'm coming home."

As the young man ended the call, a woman screaming for help could be heard a block away. Pulling the bandana back up and tightening it, the young man jumped from the side of the building towards the sound of danger as police sirens began to echo on the other end of the very long street.

* * *

END CHAPTER ONE


	2. Chapter 2 - Peter

**Chapter Two: Peter**

* * *

 _My name is Peter Parker._ _Six years ago, I was given amazing abilities...at the cost of my greatest hero. Now I will honor his memory by using my great power to protect my city, and any other city I find myself in. To fulfill this great responsibility, I have to become someone else. I have to become_ something _else._

* * *

As Peter landed in the alleyway, both the mugger and the woman that had screamed turned to him in shock.

"You know, if you're gonna do this in the middle of the day," Peter started as he gave a pose of indifference, "You might wanna try being out of earshot of a vigilante - or at least not on the same street as a police station."

While keeping his grip on the woman's coat, the mugger turned and began to fire three would-be-headshots.

"Sir, that is very rude," Peter called as dodged the first two shots, "I am just trying to tell you how to 'mugger' better."

Peter then ducked under the last shot, ran up the alley wall and jumped off with a well placed kick to the mugger's jaw. Peter then grabbed the mugger's pistol and webbed it to the wall, and made sure to web the mugger's outstretched hands and feet to the ground.

"Hashtag Starfish." Peter joked as he made the hashtag gesture with his fingers before turning to the woman who was still clinging to the wall out of fear.

"There's an officer on patrol coming now," Peter told her calmly after he sent an anonymous text to the SCPD hotline, "I'm sorry I can't stay, but you'll be fine. Just wait for them, okay?"

The woman shakily nodded her head in understanding as she relaxed a little. Peter turned, ran down the alleyway, then parkoured his way up the alley walls and shot a webline up and out of the alleyway and continued his own patrol of the area.

Peter had come into town yesterday because the one and only officer back in New York that fully trusted him gave him a lead that Kraven had come to Starling. The first task Peter had before him whenever he came to a new city - especially since he officially started this job - was to learn and all but fully memorize the layout of the city. Everything from the obvious placement of buildings and streets to where most crime - big and small - took place in the city and even down to foot traffic movements at three in the morning. This level of familiarity never came easy, and more often than not patrols were interrupted by random crime - much like the mugger a few minutes ago.

On top of all the patrols and the crime fighting was the lack of a proper sleep schedule. Peter was used to this, sure, but he hadn't exactly talked to a friend yet like he had told May over the phone. In fact, said friend didn't know that he was in town - let alone in need of a place to stay.

Peter started making his way towards the edge of the city, stopping at the last relatively large building to make a quick costume change on the rooftop. After checking to see no one was looking, and making some quick calculations in his head and making sure his backpack was strapped tightly and zipped shut, Peter leapt off the building and - using a couple different weblines - landed all but softly on the roof of a passing bus headed for the neighborhood he needed to get to based off the info he had written down what felt like a lifetime ago.

As the bus pulled near the neighborhood and came to a stop, Peter silently launched off the bus and landed behind a row of bushes. After a quick look around, he hefted his bag and began walking through the streets. A few false starts and knocking on wrong doors later, Peter came to the front door, knocked three times and waited. He barely recognized the woman that opened the door, but she recognized him.

"Peter?" She asked in disbelief.

"Hi Felicity," He started nervously with a smile, "I'm here to cash in a favor."

* * *

Five years ago, a sixteen-year old Peter was unpacking his things into his dorm room. He had graduated high school early and been given a scholarship to any college he chose - oddly enough, he chose M.I.T. His reasoning was he wanted somewhere that he could be challenged in terms of technology, but still be able to have a social life if the opportunity presented itself.

"Are you sure you couldn't have picked anything heavier to bring?" An eighteen-year old Harry Osborn asked sarcastically as he hefted a bin that had been duct-taped shut in one hand and dragged a locked foot-locker in the other hand.

"I could've brought my entire room from home instead of half of it." Peter joked in reply as he gave Harry a hand with the foot-locker.

"Are you sure you're gonna have enough to eat, Peter?" Aunt May asked sincerely as she came in the door with two shopping bags in each hand full of snack- and junk-food.

"Yes, May, I'll be fine." Peter replied with a chuckle as he set the foot-locker down to be moved elsewhere in the room later.

As the three of them continued to unpack Peter's belongings, a very giggly couple holding hands walked past Peter's door. The guy in the couple wore a red hoodie and kept his blonde hair somewhat parted to the right. The girl could only be described as goth to the core - black hair and lipstick, leather jacket, an Egyptian Ankh necklace and combat boots.

"Hey," Red Hoodie started as he knocked on the door and moved to shake Norman's hand, "You must be the new guy, smart getting your little brother to help. I'm Cooper."

"I'm actually the help," Harry chuckled as he shook Cooper's hand then pointed to Peter, "This is the real new guy."

"Hi, I'm Peter." He said as a confused Cooper shook his outstretched hand, "This is Harry, we've been friends as long as I can remember. And this is my Aunt May."

"Nice to meet you all." Cooper said with a smile but confusion still apparent on his face, "This is my girlfriend, Felicity."

"Nice to meet you all." Felicity smiled as she shook everyone's hand, "Forgive him, he's still learning how to fully voice when he's confused."

"Peter's here on an Osborn scholarship," Harry started in reply with a chuckle and a dry smile, "Dad says he's the face of the next generation of great scientists. Well, after him and Harrison Wells of course."

"And your dad is?" The girl perked up with the question.

"Norman Osborn." Harry replied with a bit of embarrassment, "But, he made sure Peter competed in the public and advanced science fairs and expos just like everyone else - the only advantage he had was access to labs that I had access to so he could have the materials and budget he needed."

"Wait a minute, Peter...Parker?" Felicity asked in surprise as she looked to Peter, "The guy who won with a nanobot serum that cured a judge of his brain cancer at the 2010 Osborn Expo?!"

"Uh, yeah, that's me." Peter replied with a not so subtle blush of embarrassment.

"Dude, no offense, but why'd you choose here?" Cooper asked before being elbowed in the ribs by Felicity.

"What he meant to say was," Felicity started with an apologetic smile, "With all the options available to you, why M.I.T., why not Harvard or even Osborn U. of Tech?"

"Well, M.I.T. still gives a challenge for just about any of the offered majors." Peter answered, "But, it also gives me a chance to have a social life of sorts. Without revealing too much to embarass me, I wasn't exactly the social butterfly of my high school."

"Well, maybe we can change that." Felicity suggested, "Wanna check out the computer lab tonight? Maintenance owes me a favor for keeping the entire campus mainframe from going down last week, so we could stay all night if you want to get started on any big projects. Cooper and I were gonna do just that actually."

"Uh, sure, that'll fun." Peter answered while trying to keep the nerves out of his voice.

"Great, see ya' then, man." Cooper said before shaking Peter's hand again, "Take it easy."

* * *

"So, hang on, Kraven followed you to Starling?" Felicity asked as she handed Peter a cup of coffee.

"No, no, I followed him." Peter answered as he graciously and cautiously took the cup, "I'm not sure who he's here for, but he took out five NYPD officers before crossing the Washington bridge and dropping off the grid until he got into town."

"Do you think he's got something I can track in the city?" Felicity asked as she moved to a tablet she had on the counter and began booting it up.

"Nah, he's on the hunt." Peter replied, "Plus, I tried tagging him both before leaving New York and when I first saw him in Starling. Both signals died only about an hour after tagging him; I'm fairly certain he's got some sort of homemade jamming tech."

"Tech like that will probably work on a specific frequency," Felicity started, "If we can get that frequency, I can use it to pinpoint where he is at the moment - no guarantees on full tracking though."

As she started typing, Peter couldn't help but smile.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Felicity asked without looking up from her work.

"I'm just remembering how different we both used to be," Peter answered honestly, "Before I told you."

"Correction: I told you that I knew, so you then told me." Felicity replied with a mischievous grin before taking a sip of coffee.

"Right, but still." Peter nodded as he remembered, "We've both changed quite a bit. You're blonde now, all professional, working with the Arrow."

Felicity did a spit-take worthy of a CW sitcom before whipping her head around to look at Peter.

"How-? What-? Why would you think that I work with the Hood Guy?" Felicity asked in a hastily thrown-together tone of accusation.

"Hey, Felicity, it's okay." Peter held his hands up in a gesture of surrender, "Honestly, I think it's cool that you get to put to use all you learned with your 'personal projects' in college and the collaborative projects with me. Besides, I trusted you with my secret - if out of necessity, I hope you know you can trust me with yours."

Felicity breathed a little bit in relief before slowly starting to continue her work.

"As fun as it is to reminisce," Peter started as he tried to hide the awkward hesitance in his voice, "I mentioned that I need to cash in that favor."

"I'm all ears." Felicity answered as she looked up but continued to type.

"I hate to even ask," Peter started a bit nervously, "But I need a place to stay while I'm in Starling. You can say no, I'll understand if you do. And if you do say yes, I'm fine just on the couch or even out in the shed or something."

"Oh, please, you're welcome to stay here." Felicity chuckled in reply, "Take the guest room, that's what it's for. And don't worry about using a favor for this, you're always welcome to stay here if you're in town. If I could, I'd let you use the living space in the Arrow's lair but-"

"-He and I aren't on a first name basis," Peter finished for her, "It's fine, thank you for the gesture though. And thank you so much for letting me stay here."

"No problem." Felicity smiled before her tablet chimed success, "I got a trace on the frequency Kraven's using for his jamming tech. It's military grade, and ARGUS kept under wraps that they lost a couple jammers last month."

"Guess we know they won't be getting one of them back." Peter joked as he looked at the screen over Felicity's shoulder, "Can you get a trace on where the frequency is emanating from?"

"Not from here, unfortunately." Felicity answered honestly, "I'd need the full set up in the Arrow Cave."

"The Arrow Cave?" Peter asked with a chuckle, "If it's where the Arrow goes, why not call it 'The Quiver'?"

"That is...actually a good question." Felicity started as she looked to the side lost in thought.

Before Peter could respond, his phone started to ring. He hadn't fully cleared it with Robbie at the _Bugle_ or Harry at the lab that he was taking a bit of a vacation out of state. At the moment, it was Harry calling, but he was sure to get a lecture from Robbie later.

"I gotta go take this," Peter started as he walked towards the door, "Thanks again for letting me stay here."

"Just don't leave your stuff everywhere." Felicity called out as Peter walked out the door and took Harry's call.

* * *

In a half-fallen building in the Glades, Kraven stood near a workbench as he sharpened one of his knives. He heard the footsteps behind him, but chose not to react until the newcomer spoke.

"Mister Kravinoff," A man said in an American accent with a brisk and calm voice, "I have a proposition for you."

"I do not accept propositions." Kraven answered in his Russian accent without turning around from his work, "I accept cash and wire transfer."

"What about information for your hunt?" The man asked in reply.

Kraven stopped sharpening and turned to the man. He wore a business suit, stood with a stern posture but kept his hands in his pockets, and he had a leather necklace with some kind of small, green, cylindrical jewel hanging from it.

"League of Assassins?" Kraven asked, "I have told you, I do not have time for your crusade,"

"The League and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye anymore," The man responded as he slowly stepped closer, "I speak of my own accord, but seeing as you don't know who I am-"

"I know exactly who you are, Mister Merlyn," Kraven interrupted, "I just simply do not care what you have to offer."

"How about the location of Spider-Man?" Merlyn asked in answer, "Or did you not know that he followed you into Starling?"

Kraven's right eyebrow crept up in question, but he did not speak as he waited for Merlyn to relay the information or prepare a deal.

* * *

END CHAPTER TWO


	3. Chapter 3 - Oliver

**Chapter Three: Oliver**

* * *

Oliver stepped into the foundry lair the next night to find Felicity already hard at work. She had a tracking algorithm running on one monitor to find Kraven, and some kind of suit project running on another monitor as she talked on Skype with what appeared to be someone at Star Labs.

"Is that for me?" Oliver asked causing Felicity to calmly but not-so-subtly close both the Skype connection and the suit project.

"I guess not." Oliver chuckled, "What's up Felicity?"

"The tracking algorithm is running based on all of Kraven's cases in America - specifically New York." Felicity started with a tone that suggested the subject was changing whether Oliver wanted it to or not, "Now we just have to wait for it to actually give us something."

"No offense," Oliver said as he leaned over the desk and looked at the monitor, "But this looks like you had some help in setting it up."

"Are you seriously doubting my abilities right now?" Felicity asked with a look of shock, "I don't grade your archery performances for plagiarism."

"Okay, fair enough." Oliver chuckled as he straightened up and held his hands up at his chest in surrender.

"Sorry, I'm just a little stressed with stuff outside of here." Felicity breathed as she started pulling up some other files to help Oliver with the night's work.

"Do you need to talk about it?" Oliver asked as he turned and leaned back against the desk in front of a monitor Felicity wasn't using.

"No, I'm fine." Felicity smiled her thanks, "It's just a friend I haven't seen since college, but would take a bullet for, came to town yesterday and is crashing at my place. I just don't want him finding out about any of this."

"Do you need me to run preemptive interference?" Oliver asked as he crossed his arms.

"No, nothing like that." Felicity replied, "I just may not be able to fully focus while he's here, or I may have to leave early or come in late."

"Well, if it's someone you'd take a bullet for, that makes them family right?" Oliver asked before adding, "Family comes first - if you're on good terms with them."

"Thanks." Felicity said softly, knowing how much it meant for Oliver to say that cliche phrase.

"I hate to interrupt," Dig called out across the room as he came down the stairs from Verdant upstairs, "But Oliver should probably suit up for a long night. This just hit the news about ten minutes ago."

Dig tapped across the large Smart Board table/monitor and brought up the local news feed from a few minutes ago.

"-been confirmed as a hostage situation." The news anchor was saying as live footage of the SCPD was being shown outside of a fallen building in the Glades, "Again, the only details we know for sure indicate that Kraven the Hunter is inside with an unknown number of hostages, however two have been confirmed as SCPD's finest. No demands have been made as of yet, we are monitoring the situation and will hopefully know more shortly as we send out a correspondent."

"Get me exact location on that building, Felicity." Oliver calmly ordered as he stepped to the case that held his suit and began to suit up and his mind wandered back to the terrors of the island.

* * *

Ivo and his men had been buried in a mass grave. A message had been sent to the boat offshore which had promptly burst into flames as the men on board started celebrating which turned into an out of control riot. It didn't matter though, Slade had wanted a proper funeral for Shado, so Oliver had rallied Sarah to help provide a proper funeral. Now they all stood over the gravesite on the mountain as Slade carried the last stone.

"I should've told you." Slade solemnly said as he placed the stone on the pile that covered Shado's body, "I should've been there. I should've stopped Fyres."

"Slade," Oliver started calmly, "You can't blame yourself for all of this. No matter what happened or happens after this, you're only one man."

"I'm one man who fell a tree with a human body." Slade quickly replied.

"But you were unconscious, we thought _dead_ , when Ivo found us." Sarah interjected, "Ivo subjected all of us to this. _He_ took Shado, _he_ made all of our lives a living hell, and _he_ is the reason that you weren't there to save her."

Slade took a breath, then stood while keeping his head down. His fists clenched at his sides as he slowly turned his head back to the others.

"But I could've waited to use the mirakuru, or used it earlier." Slade said slowly.

"Slade, there are always gonna be a thousand 'what-ifs' or 'I-could'ves' to every single thing that happens in life." Oliver started, "We could've just used Fyres' missile launcher to take over his camp and gotten home, we could've made a plan to kill him instead of messing with his equipment. Everything happens in life without room to go back and fix it. Shado's gone, we all miss her, but right now we need to move on and figure out another way off the island."

Slade was quiet for several minutes before turning his whole body to Oliver.

"Will it honor her memory?" He asked somberly.

"It will," Sarah cut in, "And when we get home, we can figure out a way to get her home to her people."

Slade turned back to the pile of stones, then back to Oliver and Sarah.

"Alright," He started with a new edge to his voice, "Let's figure out a way off this rock."

As Slade started slowly walking away, Oliver put a hand on his shoulder and felt the muscles stiffen before relaxing. Not for the first time, and definitely not the last, Oliver wondered if it was time to reopen that bottle of vodka hidden away on the plane.

Before he could pose the question, the sound of a helicopter suddenly filled the air as a military style chopper suddenly buzzed over the mountain heading towards the still blazing _Amazo_ in the harbor. Just as Sarah stepped to raise her arms in a sign for help, a hatch opened on the side of the chopper and a missile was launched directly at what was left of the boat causing a large explosion and fireball. As quickly as it came, the hatch closed and the helicopter turned around and went back to wherever it came from, not even bother to hover for a second over the three ragged figures on the mountaintop.

* * *

Back in the present, Oliver slowly crossed a cracked and slanted rooftop across the street from the building where Kraven was keeping his hostages. Using a specialized pair of binoculars, Oliver gauged the distance to the building, which window was best to enter the building, and using thermal imaging he could see how close Kraven and the hostages were to a building or if there were any traps or other hostiles standing in his way.

" _I would suggest not immediately engaging him if you can help it."_ Diggle's voice came in over Oliver's earpiece as both he and Felicity were watching a live feed of Oliver's binoculars and a camera hidden in the bridge of his domino mask, " _He'll either grab a hostage, or kill one outright._ "

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Oliver asked in reply, "Knock on the front door and hope he offers me a beer?"

Before Dig could reply, movement down the street caught Oliver's eye. As he turned his head, all he could see was a figure clad in red and blue running across another rooftop as they fired what looked a line of cable onto a nearby support column from a separate fallen building. Oliver watched as the figure then used their own momentum to swing around the column, up into the air and through one of the windows in Kraven's building. Realizing the figure could escalate the situation to a possibly irreparable place, Oliver then fired a zipline across the street, converted his bow - a custom-made gift from Felicity with quite a few surprises stored inside - into its motorized-winch form and scaled the zipline quickly and leaped through the same window as the red & blue figure.

As he converted the bow back into its original form, Oliver tried to believe what he was seeing. The red & blue figure, which wore an almost completely homemade outfit as far as Oliver could tell, was firing thin cables across the room periodically and swinging around the room like Tarzan while firing what looked like balls of the cable at Kraven - who was wielding a double-ended spear to block the balls of cable - from what looked like oversized watches on their wrists. When the figure wasn't swinging around the room, they would stop on a section of wall, seem to stick in place and either use some more cable lines to pull a hostage out of Kraven's way or place a small red device before swinging to another point in the room.

"Get down here Spider!" Kraven yelled in thick Russian.

"Kraven, buddy, this is America." The red & blue figure called back in a voice that sounded like a very young man, "The Cold War ended like 70 years ago."

"No war ever truly ends, Spider." Kraven called back in English as he readied a throwing knife, "As American, you should know this."

"Yeah, okay, kinda swung into that one." The Spider called back as he landed on another section of wall and placed another device behind him while keeping his eyes on Kraven.

Before the Spider could say anything else, Kraven launched the throwing knife at him with alarming strength and accuracy. Oliver quickly knocked and fired an arrow at the knife, causing it to embed into a section of the ceiling while the arrow fell to the floor with a metallic ping. With no time to react, Oliver's vision seemed to slow down as another knife sailed through the air directed at his head. Feeling the wind of the blade two inches from his face as it was redirected, Oliver then became aware of the sudden line of cable coming from the Spider as he jumped through the air and spun himself to aim the blade at the last device he had placed. The Spider then slammed himself into Oliver as the sound of the knife connecting with the device was heard before the spray of several lines of cable shot from various points around the room anchoring Kraven in place with one hand raised and the other unable to wield the spear.

"Ta-da!" The Spider announced as he stood up and motioned to Kraven struggling in the web of of cables that now ensnared him, "I call it, 'Modern Art.'"

Oliver sat up with a groan and looked up to see the Spider now helping the hostages, including the police officers, out of their bindings and out of the room. He could see that the Spider's suit was definitely done on a low budget; a bandanna mask, a beanie, a zip-up vest over a sweatshirt, and jeans with the most expensive equipment being the cable launchers, the shoes - which appeared to be nearly indestructible - a pair of goggles and the hidden utility belt laden with extra cable devices.

"There are some very lovely men and women with badges outside that will take you all home," The Spider was saying as he helped some of the hostages stand, "And there's medical personal if you're injured or in need of a trauma kit."

As the last of the hostages left the room to head downstairs and outside, Oliver weaved his way through the web of cables toward the Spider, noting that a wad of the cables had been sprayed over Kraven's mouth to keep him from talking.

"You have a very impressive set of skills." Oliver said through his electronic growl.

"And you have a very impressive bow." The Spider said as he leaned in to examine it further, "Is that a carbon-fiber composite material? Also, did you originally have it in some kind of winch mode on the way in?"

"Let me finish." Oliver said firmly to get the other vigilante to quiet down and listen, "You have a very impressive set of skills, and I...appreciate the...assistance. But if you don't leave town, tonight, you're gonna have to deal with me. And I don't share the same moral conviction as the Russian over there."

"Moral conviction?! You think he as an ounce of-? Oh…" The Spider started intensely before quickly coming to realize what Oliver meant.

" _Oliver, I know you like to mark your turf, but do_ not _pick a fight with this guy._ " Felicity demanded over the earpiece.

"This is _my_ city." Oliver replied, both to the Spider and Felicity, "I want you gone by morning."

Oliver then turned expecting that to be the end of the discussion.

"If it's _your_ city, maybe you should do a better job of not letting in crazy knife-wielding hunters." The Spider called back before Oliver whipped around and fired an arrow at his chest.

With blinding speed, the Spider ducked under the arrow and fired a line of cable directly onto Oliver's face pulling him face first into the ground with a thud. Standing back up straight, the Spider took a ready stance.

" _Oliver, seriously, do_ not _fight this guy!"_ Felicity practically shouted.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Oliver groaned beneath his breath as he began to slowly stand.

" _That's Spider-Man - the vigilante from New York_." Felicity said, " _He followed Kraven here. He's dealt with far worse and far crazier than the Undertaking. Let him go!"_

"I'm not backing down!" Oliver yelled in his growl, both to Spider-Man and Felicity, "I will not fail this city!"

Oliver then grabbed, knocked, and fired an arrow in one motion. Just as he went to pull another arrow from his quiver, Oliver saw Spider-Man fire webbing onto his bow with such speed that it stopped the first arrow immediately after being fired and tethered it to the bow.

"Don't come looking for me, Arrow." Spider-Man called, "Kraven isn't the only reason I'm here. Others came from New York. I'm just here to clean up their mess and leave. Let me finish what I started, and I'm gone."

Before Oliver could respond, Spider-Man lifted the front of the vest and sweatshirt to show the buckle of his utility belt before it blasted Oliver with red light. After covering his eyes, and feeling an instant hit of humility for being stupid enough to fall for a blinding flare, Oliver looked to see Spider-Man had left leaving Kraven in the web and the sound of police pounding up the stairs. With barely enough time, Oliver leapt from the window, rode the zipline back across the street, cut the line, ran across the rooftop and parkoured down to the alley where he left his motorcycle and began the ride back to the lair under Verdant.

* * *

In the penthouse office of the Starling branch building for Oscorp, Norman Osborn leaned back in his desk chair as he looked out on Starling City.

"Merlin may have sunk almost a quarter of the city into the ground," Norman began as he turned to the man he had summoned, "But that just means there's still three quarters we can use."

"Losing Kraven was a serious blow." A methodical voice said from behind darkened goggles from across the desk.

"True," Norman replied as he opened a desk drawer and rolled up his right sleeve, "But there are still five of us left."

Norman pulled an injection syringe out of the drawer that had been preloaded with a nearly luminescent, green serum.

"And with the Spider here in Starling with us," Norman said as he injected the serum into his arm with a grunt, "There's no one else he can call on to keep us busy."

"No one but the archer." The goggle wearing man replied calmly.

"Let Merlin deal with him." Norman said through a strained breath, "Their about to have their own set of problems anyway."

"Of course, Mr. Osborn." The goggle wearing man replied before turning away.

"And Otto," Norman started in a much more demented version of his voice, "Send Adrian to Verdant. We need to have a word with Mr. Merlin."

* * *

END CHAPTER THREE


End file.
